DETROIT, MI – The National Association of Asian American Professional Detroit Chapter (NAAAP Detroit) held its Inaugural Annual Meeting on December 1 at the Vista Tech Center of Schoolcraft College.

State Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood and South Korea Honorary Consulate in Detroit David Roden provided opening remarks and noted the accomplishments made by NAAAP Detroit Chapter on cultivating Asian American leaders in the Great Detroit. The opening remarks were followed by an inspiring keynote speech delivered by Peter Bhatia, who just relocated to Detroit as the Vice-President and Editor of the Detroit Free Press. Mr. Bhatia has an impressive career which includes being a multiple recipient of the coveted Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Bhatia gave a poignant talk to our membership starting with his personal stories of his family including experiences growing up as an Asian American. He continued with his perspective of the media today and its challenges, and an inspirational talk about leadership and of the unparalleled passion he has witnessed for rebuilding Detroit.

NAAAP Detroit Chapter announced changes in its organizational structure and group leadership team to accelerate the execution of organization strategy. The President, Coco Zhang-Miske, is set to step down at year’s end, effective December 31, 2017. Coco has done an outstanding job as the founding President NAAAP Detroit Chapter. Taoqu Chen, Vice-President, was elected by the Board of Directors to assume the role of President, effective January 1, 2018. Taoqu played a major role in forming the NAAAP Detroit Chapter. She gave a warm engaging speech regarding her life experiences and how NAAAP will continue to foster professional growth and empower leadership in the community.

The Annual Meeting ended with a youth string quartet performance. The quartets were assembled and coached by Amy Humphreys and performed the third movement of String Quartet No. 12 by great composer Dvorak. The quartet’s members include: Edison Chiu, Esther Choi, Ashley Kim, and Rachel Wu.

NAAAP Detroit would like to express its gratitude to the distinguished guest speakers and audience members who made the Inaugural Annual Meeting such a success. More details will be available soon at dtw.naaap.org.